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At least 1,405 records · Page 78
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1993

Accuracy considerations in the computational analysis of jet noise

The application of computational fluid dynamics methods to the analysis of problems in aerodynamic noise has resulted in the extension and adaptation of conventional CFD to the discipline now referred to as computational aeroacoustics (CAA). In the analysis of jet noise accurate resolution of a wide range of spatial and temporal scales in the flow field is essential if the acoustic far field is to be predicted. The numerical simulation of unsteady jet flow has been successfully demonstrated and many flow features have been computed with reasonable accuracy. Grid refinement and increased solution time are discussed as means of improving accuracy of Navier-Stokes solutions of unsteady jet flow. In addition various properties of different numerical procedures which influence accuracy are examined with particular emphasis on dispersion and dissipation characteristics. These properties are investigated by using selected schemes to solve model problems for the propagation of a shock wave and a sinusoidal disturbance. The results are compared for the different schemes.

Scott, James N.↗
NASA NTRS1993

Assessment of Total Variation Diminishing schemes in combustion instability problems

Numerical simulations of acoustic waves in a shear layer and in an idealized combustion chamber using high resolution Total Variation Diminishing (TVD) schemes has been carried out to study the effects of inherent scheme dissipation and dispersion errors of this class of problems. The numerical results are compared against available exact solutions to quantify these errors. Several popular TVD limiters widely used in the Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) community have been assessed. Osher-Chakravarthy limiters are modified so that they can be used in explicit schemes. Among all the limiters investigated, Osher-Chakravarthy third-order limiter is identified as having performed the best. It is also found that all TVD schemes have exceptionally small dispersive errors.

Wang, Z. J.↗
NASA NTRS2005

MRI-Based Computational Fluid Dynamics in Experimental Vascular Models: Toward the Development of an Approach for Prediction of Cardiovascular Changes During Prolonged Space Missions

A priority of NASA is to identify and study possible risks to astronauts health during prolonged space missions [l]. The goal is to develop a procedure for a preflight evaluation of the cardiovascular system of an astronaut and to forecast how it will be affected during the mission. To predict these changes, a computational cardiovascular model must be constructed. Although physiology data can be used to make a general model, a more desirable subject-specific model requires anatomical, functional, and flow data from the specific astronaut. MRI has the unique advantage of providing images with all of the above information, including three-directional velocity data which can be used as boundary conditions in a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) program [2,3]. MRI-based CFD is very promising for reproduction of the flow patterns of a specific subject and prediction of changes in the absence of gravity. The aim of this study was to test the feasibility of this approach by reconstructing the geometry of MRI-scanned arterial models and reproducing the MRI-measured velocities using CFD simulations on these geometries.

Spirka, T. A.↗
NASA NTRS2018

A Generic T-Tail Transport Airplane Simulation for High-Angle-Of-Attack Dynamics Modeling Investigations

A preliminary simulation of a generic T-tail transport airplane configuration has been developed at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Langley Research Center. The primary purpose of this piloted simulation is to assess aerodynamic model fidelity requirements for training airline pilots to recognize and recover from full-stall flight conditions in a T-tail airplane. As a result, significant flexibility has been designed into the flight dynamics model. The flight dynamics model is based on newly acquired static and dynamic stability and control data from sources that include: wind tunnel, water tunnel, and computational fluid dynamics. Preliminary results for initial stall show an unstable stall pitch break (if the stick pusher is inhibited), un-commanded motions due to stall asymmetries, significantly reduced dynamic roll stability, and decreased control effectiveness. Preliminary studies indicated an insensitivity to the fidelity of the pitch damping model.

Cunningham, Kevin↗
NASA NTRS1983

Efficient solution of the Euler and Navier-Stokes equations with a vectorized multiple-grid algorithm

A multiple-grid algorithm for use in efficiently obtaining steady solutions to the Euler and Navier-Stokes equations is presented. The convergence of the explicit MacCormack algorithm on a fine grid is accelerated by propagating transients from the domain using a sequence of successively coarser grids. Both the fine and coarse grid schemes are readily vectorizable. The combination of multiple-gridding and vectorization results in substantially reduced computational times for the numerical solution of a wide range of flow problems. Results are presented for subsonic, transonic, and supersonic inviscid flows and for subsonic attached and separated laminar viscous flows. Work reduction factors over a scalar, single-grid algorithm range as high as 76.8.

Navier Stokes simulation↗
NASA NTRS1992

CAN-DO, CFD-based Aerodynamic Nozzle Design and Optimization program for supersonic/hypersonic wind tunnels

A design program is developed which incorporates a modern approach to the design of supersonic/hypersonic wind-tunnel nozzles. The approach is obtained by the coupling of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) with design optimization. The program can be used to design a 2D or axisymmetric, supersonic or hypersonic, wind-tunnel nozzles that can be modeled with a calorically perfect gas. The nozzle design is obtained by solving a nonlinear least-squares optimization problem (LSOP). The LSOP is solved using an iterative procedure which requires intermediate flowfield solutions. The nozzle flowfield is simulated by solving the Navier-Stokes equations for the subsonic and transonic flow regions and the parabolized Navier-Stokes equations for the supersonic flow regions. The advantages of this method are that the design is based on the solution of the viscous equations eliminating the need to make separate corrections to a design contour, and the flexibility of applying the procedure to different types of nozzle design problems.

Korte, John J.↗
NASA NTRS1988

Numerical simulation of hypersonic inlet flows with equilibrium or finite rate chemistry

An efficient numerical program incorporated with comprehensive high temperature gas property models has been developed to simulate hypersonic inlet flows. The computer program employs an implicit lower-upper time marching scheme to solve the two-dimensional Navier-Stokes equations with variable thermodynamic and transport properties. Both finite-rate and local-equilibrium approaches are adopted in the chemical reaction model for dissociation and ionization of the inlet air. In the finite rate approach, eleven species equations coupled with fluid dynamic equations are solved simultaneously. In the local-equilibrium approach, instead of solving species equations, an efficient chemical equilibrium package has been developed and incorporated into the flow code to obtain chemical compositions directly. Gas properties for the reaction products species are calculated by methods of statistical mechanics and fit to a polynomial form for C(p). In the present study, since the chemical reaction time is comparable to the flow residence time, the local-equilibrium model underpredicts the temperature in the shock layer. Significant differences of predicted chemical compositions in shock layer between finite rate and local-equilibrium approaches have been observed.

Yu, Sheng-Tao↗
NASA NTRS1993

Laboratory and theoretical models of planetary-scale instabilities and waves

Research work is proceeding in theoretical, numerical, and experimental geophysical fluid dynamics leading up to a reflight of the GFFC (Geophysical Fluid Flow Cell Experiment) on USML-2. The work is intended not only to generate ideas for future space experiments, but to provide fundamental results concerned with nonlinear and chaotic properties of thermal convection and baroclinic waves in terrestrial and planetary atmospheres. The major efforts are focussed on thermal convection in a rapidly rotating annulus relevant to Jovian atmospheric dynamics, and on the chaotic behavior of baroclinic waves relevant to the Earth's atmosphere. The approach, in preparation for USML-2, is primarily theoretical and numerical. Mechanistic process models are solved numerically in order to identify physical mechanisms that may be observed in the GFFC, and which are important in real geophysical applications. The results from numerical simulations of geophysical fluid flow (subject to rotation and stratification) are compared with previous GFFC experiments on Spacelab-3 and with existing and proposed terrestrial laboratory experiments of various types. Pattern recognition algorithms have been employed to generate low-dimensional descriptions of the highly nonlinear and turbulent numerical simulations. Such empirically truncated descriptions provide for simplified but robust physical interpretations of the dynamics, as well as yielding highly efficient computations of these chaotic flows.

Hart, John E.↗
NASA NTRS1992

Images constructed from computed flow fields

A method for constructing interferograms, schlieren, and shadowgraphs from ideal- and real-gas, two- and three-dimensional computed flow fields is described. The computational grids can be structured or unstructured, and multiple grids are an option. The constructed images are compared to experimental images for several types of flow, including a ramp, a blunt-body, a nozzle, and a reacting flow. The constructed images simulate the features observed in the experimental images. They are sensitive to errors in the flow-field solutions and can be used to identify solution errors. In addition, techniques for obtaining phase shifts from experimental finite-fringe interferograms and for removing experimentally induced phase-shift errors are discussed. Both the constructed images and calculated phase shifts can be used for validation of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) codes.

Yates, Leslie A.↗
NASA NTRS1999

Numerical Modeling of Three-Dimensional Fluid Flow with Phase Change

We present a numerical method to compute phase change dynamics of three-dimensional deformable bubbles. The full Navier-Stokes and energy equations are solved for both phases by a front tracking/finite difference technique. The fluid boundary is explicitly tracked by discrete points that are connected by triangular elements to form a front that is used to keep the stratification of material properties sharp and to calculate the interfacial source terms. Two simulations are presented to show robustness of the method in handling complex phase boundaries. In the first case, growth of a vapor bubble in zero gravity is studied where large volume increase of the bubble is managed by adaptively increasing the front resolution. In the second case, growth of a bubble under high gravity is studied where indentation at the rear of the bubble results in a region of large curvature which challenges the front tracking in three dimensions.

Esmaeeli, Asghar↗
NASA NTRS2001

Approach for Uncertainty Propagation and Robust Design in CFD Using Sensitivity Derivatives

This paper presents an implementation of the approximate statistical moment method for uncertainty propagation and robust optimization for a quasi 1-D Euler CFD (computational fluid dynamics) code. Given uncertainties in statistically independent, random, normally distributed input variables, a first- and second-order statistical moment matching procedure is performed to approximate the uncertainty in the CFD output. Efficient calculation of both first- and second-order sensitivity derivatives is required. In order to assess the validity of the approximations, the moments are compared with statistical moments generated through Monte Carlo simulations. The uncertainties in the CFD input variables are also incorporated into a robust optimization procedure. For this optimization, statistical moments involving first-order sensitivity derivatives appear in the objective function and system constraints. Second-order sensitivity derivatives are used in a gradient-based search to successfully execute a robust optimization. The approximate methods used throughout the analyses are found to be valid when considering robustness about input parameter mean values.

Putko, Michele M.↗
NASA NTRS1998

Integrating Cache Performance Modeling and Tuning Support in Parallelization Tools

With the resurgence of distributed shared memory (DSM) systems based on cache-coherent Non Uniform Memory Access (ccNUMA) architectures and increasing disparity between memory and processors speeds, data locality overheads are becoming the greatest bottlenecks in the way of realizing potential high performance of these systems. While parallelization tools and compilers facilitate the users in porting their sequential applications to a DSM system, a lot of time and effort is needed to tune the memory performance of these applications to achieve reasonable speedup. In this paper, we show that integrating cache performance modeling and tuning support within a parallelization environment can alleviate this problem. The Cache Performance Modeling and Prediction Tool (CPMP), employs trace-driven simulation techniques without the overhead of generating and managing detailed address traces. CPMP predicts the cache performance impact of source code level "what-if" modifications in a program to assist a user in the tuning process. CPMP is built on top of a customized version of the Computer Aided Parallelization Tools (CAPTools) environment. Finally, we demonstrate how CPMP can be applied to tune a real Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) application.

Waheed, Abdul↗
NASA NTRS2006

Diffusion Flame Stabilization

Diffusion flames are commonly used for industrial burners in furnaces and flares. Oxygen/fuel burners are usually diffusion burners, primarily for safety reasons, to prevent flashback and explosion in a potentially dangerous system. Furthermore, in most fires, condensed materials pyrolyze, vaporize, and burn in air as diffusion flames. As a result of the interaction of a diffusion flame with burner or condensed-fuel surfaces, a quenched space is formed, thus leaving a diffusion flame edge, which plays an important role in flame holding in combustion systems and fire spread through condensed fuels. Despite a long history of jet diffusion flame studies, lifting/blowoff mechanisms have not yet been fully understood, compared to those of premixed flames. In this study, the structure and stability of diffusion flames of gaseous hydrocarbon fuels in coflowing air at normal earth gravity have been investigated experimentally and computationally. Measurements of the critical mean jet velocity (U(sub jc)) of methane, ethane, or propane at lifting or blowoff were made as a function of the coflowing air velocity (U(sub a)) using a tube burner (i.d.: 2.87 mm). By using a computational fluid dynamics code with 33 species and 112 elementary reaction steps, the internal chemical-kinetic structures of the stabilizing region of methane and propane flames were investigated. A peak reactivity spot, i.e., reaction kernel, is formed in the flame stabilizing region due to back-diffusion of heat and radical species against an oxygen-rich incoming flow, thus holding the trailing diffusion flame. The simulated flame base moved downstream under flow conditions close to the measured stability limit.

Takahashi, Fumiaki↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Steady-state RANS Pretest CFD Comparisons for the SWiFT NTF Test

The NATO AVT-298 research program has been underway for seven years to improve the understanding of the full-scale aerodynamics for moderately-swept hybrid wing-bodies found on future civil and military configurations and how this differs from what is measured with low Reynolds number wind tunnel testing or predicted with Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD). Toward this effort, a hybrid wing-body configuration, known as Swept Wing Flow Test (SWiFT), was designed and tested in the Aircraft Research Association (ARA) and NASA Langley National Transonic Facility (NTF) wind tunnels. This presentation summarizes comparisons between the NTF wind tunnel data and a series of pretest CFD computations generated using steady-state Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) simulations from participants representing seven institutions using nine separate flow solvers. The objective of this research was to assess the effectiveness of state-of-practice CFD methods in predicting the aerodynamics of swept wing aircraft and identify recommended areas of improvement to the methods themselves. Computational force and moment data will be presented for a series of angle-of-attack and sideslip angle sweeps over a range of Reynolds numbers at both low-speed and near-cruise Mach numbers, as tested in the NTF experiment.

National Transonic Facility↗
NASA NTRS1993

Computational Fluid Dynamic (CFD) analysis of axisymmetric plume and base flow of film/dump cooled rocket nozzle

Film/dump cooling a rocket nozzle with fuel rich gas, as in the National Launch System (NLS) Space Transportation Main Engine (STME), adds potential complexities for integrating the engine with the vehicle. The chief concern is that once the film coolant is exhausted from the nozzle, conditions may exist during flight for the fuel-rich film gases to be recirculated to the vehicle base region. The result could be significantly higher base temperatures than would be expected from a regeneratively cooled nozzle. CFD analyses were conduced to augment classical scaling techniques for vehicle base environments. The FDNS code with finite rate chemistry was used to simulate a single, axisymmetric STME plume and the NLS base area. Parallel calculations were made of the Saturn V S-1 C/F1 plume base area flows. The objective was to characterize the plume/freestream shear layer for both vehicles as inputs for scaling the S-C/F1 flight data to NLS/STME conditions. The code was validated on high speed flows with relevant physics. This paper contains the calculations for the NLS/STME plume for the baseline nozzle and a modified nozzle. The modified nozzle was intended to reduce the fuel available for recirculation to the vehicle base region. Plumes for both nozzles were calculated at 10kFT and 50kFT.

Tucker, P. K.↗
NASA NTRS1995

Mathematical Model of Bubble Sloshing Dynamics for Cryogenic Liquid Helium in Orbital Spacecraft Dewar Container

A generalized mathematical model is investigated of sloshing dynamics for dewar containers, partially filled with a liquid of cryogenic superfluid helium 2, driven by both gravity gradient and jitter accelerations applicable to two types of scientific spacecrafts, which are eligible to carry out spinning motion and/or slew motion to perform scientific observations during normal spacecraft operation. Two examples are given for the Gravity Probe-B (GP-B) with spinning motion, and the Advanced X-Ray Astrophysics Facility-Spectroscopy (AXAF-S) with slew motion, which are responsible for the sloshing dynamics. Explicit mathematical expressions for the modelling of sloshing dynamics to cover these forces acting on the spacecraft fluid systems are derived. The numerical computation of sloshing dynamics will be based on the noninertial frame spacecraft bound coordinate, and we will solve the time-dependent three-dimensional formulations of partial differential equations subject to initial and boundary conditions. Explicit mathematical expressions of boundary conditions lo cover capillary force effects on the liquid-vapor interface in microgravity environments are also derived. Results of the simulations of the mathematical model are illustrated.

Hung, R. J.↗
NASA NTRS1992

Application of computational fluid dynamics to the design of the film cooled STME subscale nozzle for the National Launch System

The status of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) calculations for the Space Transportation Main Engine (STME) film/dump cooled nozzle design is presented, with an emphasis on the timely impact of CFD on the design of the sub-scale nozzle coolant system. The following aspects of the sub-scale coolant delivery system were analyzed with CFD: 1) a design trade study of a mechanical flow splitting device for uniform distribution of the subsonic cavity flow, 2) a design trade study of the subsonic cavity lip to achieve film integrity, and 3) an analysis of the primary flow interaction with the core/secondary coolant streams. All design calculations were performed with the Generalized Aerodynamic Simulation Program (GASP), a 3-D, multi-block, generalized Navier-Stokes code capable of solving with frozen, finite-rate or equilibrium chemical kinetics. The initial design of the subsonic cavity flow used square posts to distribute the sonic orifice jets into a uniform flow. Calculations for this design indicated that an unacceptable mal-distribution of film occurred. Design modifications involving curved and slotted posts were computed in an effort to uniformly distribute the secondary coolant flow. Analysis of these configurations showed that although the flowfield improved in uniformity, it was still unacceptable, especially at higher feed pressures. Results from these studies were then incorporated into a design that resulted in the insertion of a porous metal ring into the subsonic cavity. Subsequent water flow model studies showed that this concept was successful in uniformly distributing flow exiting the cavity. In addition to the design of the subsonic cavity, CFD was also used to analyze the secondary coolant lip and the primary flow interaction with the core/secondary coolant streams. A series of calculations were first performed to modify the subsonic cavity lip contour. The flow over the modified lip was then computed simultaneously with the primary injectors to determine the impact of the subsonic coolant stream on the primary slot jets. Pressure, temperature, velocity, and coolant mass fraction contours are presented for these configurations. Information is given in viewgraph form.

Garrett, Joseph L.↗
NASA NTRS1999

Simulation of Non-Linear Transonic Aeroelastic Behavior on the B-2

At high subsonic flight speeds, large flexible aircraft begin to encounter unsteady airloads which are not predicted by most currently available aerodynamic analysis and design methods. With increasing speed and the development of transonic flow and shocks, viscous effects quickly become very important, and flow separation can occur. The Northrop Grumman USAF B-2 Bomber encountered a nonlinear aeroelastic Residual Pitch Oscillation (RPO) under these conditions. Simulation studies were performed with the Computational Aeroelasticity Program-Transonic Small Disturbance, Viscous (CAPTSDv) computer program to evaluate its ability to predict these nonlinear aeroelastic responses. Open and closed loop simulations were performed to assess the participation of the flight control system. Control, system actuator hysteresis characteristics were modeled and found to be a significant participant in the RPO phenomenon. Simulations were also performed for varying Mach numbers and altitudes to establish the stability boundaries and compare with flight test data. These CAPTSDv simulations compared well with flight data and revealed many potential further modeling enhancements.

Residual pitch oscillation↗